pretty little liars & beyond: unpacking student-teacher “romances” in teen TV & YA books

[@rayareadzzzz]

please be aware that this video discusses themes of grooming, manipulation, sa, predatory behaviour & statutory 🍇 & it contains spoilers for Riverdale Season 1, the entirety of Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl Season 2, The O.C. Season 3, Gilmore Girls Season 4, One Tree Hill Season 4, Dawson's Creek Season 1, Friends Season 6, Life Unexpected Season 2, Cruel Summer Season 1 📚 as well as spoilers for Gothikana by RuNyx, Slammed by Colleen Hoover, Zodiac Academy series by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti everything is time stamped, so hopefully it’s easier to navigate in case you wanna avoid any specific show/book discussion xx

[@Evelyn_Okay]

At my university at the time, there's was a outspoken rumor that several male professors would fail their pretty students on purpose just so they'd have to "earn extra credit." In a private meeting. In their office. After school hours. 🤢🤮

[@SammyLammy1D]

That's disgusting. At my uni (and most in my country) we use anonymous codes for exams and papers to avoid... not only that but favouritism and unequal treatment in general. It is not perfect, but I would argue that it helps somewhat.

[@rayareadzzzz]

:/

[@lame-bj2nq]

My great grandma was born in 1921 and i lived with her throughout the 2010s she taught me a lot, one thing i remember very clearly is that she said it absolutely was not a "part of the time" for an adult to have any kind of relationship with a child. that ofc there were some people that did it but they were either shunned, "disappeared" (she was implying the good moral people would MAKE the p3dos disappear lol) or moved away to lie about their child brides age. but anyway if people have known since before the 20s then why was stuff like this being made? like literally the public did not want it. idk how or why stuff like this gets made. really when you say "oh yeah there's this great show but there's a sub plot with one of the children being sa-ed by an adult for seasons while he grooms the parents too" it just sounds so irredeemable lmao how on earth did this ever get the okay so many times that it was made and then released. we definitely knew in the 2000s this was bad, i remember girls saying it was good except the p3do parts. i think it says more about the people that made it than the time period.

[@Kriseaf]

OMG, I forgot Life Unexpected existed, that was a flashback. Yikes. Re: Gothikana, I'm still completely convinced that it was originally written as a high school teacher-student romance, but was aged up before self-publishing. If you read it with that perspective, a bunch of WTF decisions start making more sense.

[@rayareadzzzz]

life unexpected was something else

[@SammyLammy1D]

This one was a trope I had a problem with already in middle school. I obviously couldn't really explain why or how it made me uncomfortable, but I especially remember how most of my friends watched PLL and really shipped the teacher and student... and I just kind of felt icky and weird. Even as a 10 year old. But the worst thing is, I talked to a classmate of mine (in uni) who has worked as a teacher before, and we talked about if you as a teacher start dating your former student. Let's say a year after they end your classes (talking high school, not university curses) and he said that should be fine. And I just... I do not agree. Because, at least were I am, you have the same teachers for at least 2 years, sometimes 3 years of high school, and to then a year later (when the former student is 19/20) try and pursue them.... it just gives me the ick.

[@agneseditsstuff]

I got recommended this and I loved it. So interesting and you are so well-spoken, great job on the video!

[@rayareadzzzz]

thank you for watching! 🫶🏻☺️

[@muskaan3711]

I thought movies were done with this trope till I found out about Miller's Girl 🤢

[@lame-bj2nq]

i haven't seen it but i was HOPING, AT LEAST it would be like lolita where the whole point is to show how p3dos will spin any innocent interaction into the victim flirting ect. but no i don't think it is.

[@rayareadzzzz]

oh i completely forgot about that one

[@violetbickerton3840]

Listen the love hypothesis is my guilty pleasure comfort read so I do overlook the flaws but (for once) I feel the student/teacher thing was done well which isn't easy.

[@rayareadzzzz]

i think it’a fine either way since it’s an adult romance :)

[@hazelm3002]

Yeah plus Adam was not Oliver’s teacher and worked in a different department

[@hazelm3002]

In pll it turned out that Ezra actually knew who aria was when they first met, but I don’t think the writers initially planned for that reveal

[@rayareadzzzz]

oh they for sure didn’t, because the whole storyline made 0 sense in the end 😭😭

[@lilyann1567]

Jesus loves you:)

[@rayareadzzzz]

thanks, it’s not mutual :)